Colorado panel issues guidelines for injecting ketamine

By PATTY NIEBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s health department says emergency workers should not use a condition involving erratic behavior as a reason to inject people with the drug ketamine. Most states and ambulance agencies can use ketamine when people exhibit the condition called excited delirium. It’s a type of agitation associated with chronic drug abuse, mental illness or both. The report released Wednesday comes after last year’s nationwide racial justice protests. In Colorado, protesters marched for Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Black man stopped by police in 2019 and injected with ketamine by paramedics. He died days later. Ketamine is used as a sedative and is supposed to be fast-acting with limited side affects.